KOLKHORST, WHARTON SHARE LEGISLATIVE UPDATES AT CHAMBER LUNCHEON

  

Washington County’s state legislators spoke on the major occurrences of this year’s legislative sessions at a luncheon on Monday in Brenham.

The program, hosted by the Washington County, Chappell Hill and Burton Chambers of Commerce at the Blinn College Student Center, featured State Senator Lois Kolkhorst and State Representative Trey Wharton.  The two shared information about important legislation that passed, bills they helped lead, and ongoing debates that they expect will continue into future sessions.

Kolkhorst remarked that she believes the accomplishments of this past year made it her most successful one yet representing Senate District 18.

Kolkhorst lauded the legislature’s efforts to secure billions of dollars in additional funding for school districts to put toward employee pay raises and school safety measures.  She noted new funding that has gone or will go toward pay increases for staff at facilities like the Brenham State Supported Living Center, the construction of a new Brenham DPS office, investments into rural hospitals, and improvements at the now-reopened Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site.  She also referenced her bills to strengthen nutrition education and food labeling requirements, prevent foreign governmental ownership of Texas property, and transfer the University of Houston’s Victoria campus to the Texas A&M University System.

Wharton likened his freshman session representing House District 12 to “drinking from a firehose” with the amount of information absorbed, the number of bills considered and the pace of working through them.  He said it was critical to build positive relationships with other representatives, particularly those in other rural districts, so that they could collaborate on key issues. 

Like Kolkhorst, Wharton discussed the new public school funding and how it will lead to millions of dollars for local school districts and economies, while also protecting against rising costs by tying allotment funding to inflation.  He also mentioned new funding for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, one of the district’s major employers, as well as additional discipline management strategies in schools.  Personal bill highlights included the creation of a statewide law enforcement grant program for bullet-resistant protection on vehicles, insurance consumer protection legislation, and a resolution designating Brenham as the Ice Cream Capital of Texas. 

At the end of the program, Kolkhorst and Wharton answered questions submitted from the audience about topics that included broadband internet, flood relief, TxDOT’s plans for Highway 290, the House representative walkouts, water needs, and the state’s ability to continue funding educator pay raises in upcoming legislative sessions. 

Click below to hear the full speech from Lois Kolkhorst.

Click below to listen to Trey Wharton's full presentation.